Dortmund, Germany - Day 15

Today was my first day back to work. I started it off with a bang, by oversleeping :) I set my alarm for 7 am so that I could wake up and be at Bob's house @ 8 am. I woke up at 7:45 am! Nothing like being late to my first day back to work. Luckily, my boss is awesome.

Immediately after waking up, I called Bob and told him I was "running late" (ie. just woke up). He made light of it by giving me a hard time. He then assured me that it was no big deal and encouraged me to take my time and get a nice breakfast. I obliged with a plate full of eggs, a turkey sandwich with cheese, a small cup of fruit, an orange juice, and a coffee. I arrived at Bob's house around 8:30 am, and we started our day off very slowly and made it to the Dortmund office around 10 am.

The morning was filled with work related stuff... Around 1 pm, we headed to a nearby restaurant named Divan Gastronomie. I had the "Chicken Kabob" which was nothing like an American "kabob". It consisted of a plate of fries and salad topped with grilled chicken flakes. It's hard to explain, but it was really good. I took a picture, but (much like the German country-side), the pictures do it no justice. :)

After lunch, we headed back to the office and did more "work stuff". A lot of progress was made and some amazing code was written today. :) We left the office around 7pm and headed to a local italian restaurant named Risorante Bei Marija. This restaurant was probably my favorite restaurant that I've been to so far. It was relaxed, authentic, simple, and everything was exquisite in every way.

An (unsuspectingly) amazing Italian Restaurant in Dortmund, Germany

When we walked in, we were literally the only people in the restaurant. The lighting was dim, and the setting was extremely warm and welcoming. We sat at a corner table and decided to order "the menu". This meant that we would be trying everything on the menu in stages. To understand this, know that the menu consisted of about 6 or 8 dishes and was literally written on a small chalkboard that the waitress carried with her to our table to take our order. I (personally) have never been to a place like this before, and loved the idea that this what they served. No more, no less.

The options consisted of various dishes of fish and pork, various pastas like tortellini and other authentic Italian pastas, tuna salads, and a few other dishes. Unfortunately I can't remember them all due to the two bottles of red wine and the few shots of (damn-near) grain alcohol shots that we had. The waitress, who I'm sure was native Italian, but spoke fluent German, arrived at the table with three shot glasses and poured shots for us at some point. She insisted they were on the house in either Italian or German (I couldn't tell by this point), and we all pounded them down and then tilted our heads to the side with a big painful look of joy on our faces. Yowzas!!

We hung out at the table for a while after dinner and enjoyed more wine and some great conversation. I got to hear how different life can be in Europe from those who know first hand the lifestyles of Americans. Patrick and Bob are both very much experienced in living life in both the States and in Europe. It was really cool to sit and hear the differences from the two countries and do my own comparisons as to what is important to me; as a parent, a husband, a son, and as a computer professional. I love the lifestyle over here, really I do, and it's nice to know that if Jennifer and I really wanted to make it work over here with our kids, we could.

For now, however, we'll just consider Europe as a really cool place to visit from time to time... :)

A Birthday to Remember

Yup, I turned 31 today. :) Here’s a quick and silly recap of all the good things that happened in this too short of a day:

The girls came in and told me happy birthday before they got on the bus, and that started me off with a smile. Then Jen let me sleep in til 10:30. When I did wake up, I smelled my favorite breakfast cooking in the kitchen (eggs, sausage, ham, & toast with fresh coffee). I gorged and was able to fulfill a very productive work day in the basement (sometimes rare). When the girls got home from school, they were so excited that it was my birthday, and that was so cute! They were genuinely giddy for me.

Jen had been cooking a pot roast all day in the kitchen for my birthday dinner, and the house has smelled amazing all day. My mom came and ate with us and we all had a great time. After dinner, Jen surprised me with a DQ ice cream cake (my absolute FAVORITE).

Then to top off the best birthday ever, all my girls drew up personalized birthday cards for me. They all had drawings of me and my drum-set with lots of balloons and little notes everywhere. Daizi’s was mostly scribbles, but I loved it just the same. They each got a huge hug and kiss for their awesome gifts. :)

Jennifer totally outdid herself this year with all the homemade yummies today, and then, to finish off her day of (complete) surprises, she got me the Pearl Jam box set that I wanted so badly!! I feel like that grungy teenage kid all over again! She swore she didn’t see my post, so this makes it that much more awesomer (?). We’re going to be watching the Unplugged DVD tonight after the girls go to bed; though I haven’t told her yet…

I feel like like one lucky dude today. LIFE IS GOOD!! I thought birthdays were supposed to be more boring the older you get…? I had to post something because tomorrow will be back to reality and I may need to reread just how lucky I really am with all these girls around me.

Back on the Farm

I made it home safe and sound around 5:30pm last night. The flight from Novosibirsk to Moscow was very easy and I maybe got 1 total hour of sleep on it. My time in Moscow was MUCH easier than my first visit through there. I wasn't able to find the free shuttle from terminal 1 to terminal 2, but I was able to take the public bus instead. This time I knew my destination and I knew enough Russian to get me where I needed to go (ie. "Sherametyevo d'vah!?") and it paid off. At one point, I was on the wrong mashrutka and the driver had to put it in park and let me out (refunding my rubles of course). I'm happy I spoke up, otherwise, I would have probably ended up in downtown Moscow with all my luggage and a pocket full of rubles.

Needless to say I made it to the second terminal and had about 7 hour to kill. I literally dozed in and out of consciousness in a seated position with my head on my luggage sitting beside me. It was not a fun night, but I made it. I was able able to board the plane to Munich around 5:30 am and I got about 2 hours of (decent) sleep on there before we landed. There was only a 2 hour layover in Munich and I basically just kept myself awake figuring I'd get all the sleep I needed on my long flight to Chicago. Yeah right.

This Lufthansa flight had individual touch-screen television systems on the back of each seat. It goes without saying that I did not sleep for the entire flight. If I wasn't watching a movie, I was watching the live tracking system of the flight details. Before we landed, I had watched The Bourne Ultimatum (a must see), Across the Universe (really good), The Last Legion (ehh...) and a 1 hour movie about the New York Marathon (just killing time). By the time we were getting ready to land, we had to actually do a few loops around Chicago because the weather or something and I was in some major pain. My legs were cramping so bad and I could not sit still. It felt like we were flying around Chicago for 30 minutes and I was ready to scream. Of course, it didn't help that I had the flight information screen up and saw us getting closer, then further, then closer, then further... it was killing me. When we finally landed in Chicago, I was so happy. I avoided all escalators and automatic walk ways and refused to sit anywhere.

The worst part of all this flying and crappy sleep is that I was literally keeping up with the sun since Moscow. It was basically the same time for me as I kept moving further west. I took off in Moscow at 6 am, and landed in Munich at ~7 am (4 hours later). I took of in Munich @ 9 am and landed in Chicago at ~11am (9 hours later). This has basically turned into one huge day for me and I needed to let the sun catch up with me for an hour or two.

After flying half away around the world and back, I avoided delays through some pretty bad weather, all flights seemed to be right on schedule. Of course, I was one stop away from home and my luck had ended. The flight that I was supposed to take was delayed by 1 hour and it was the longest, most annoying 1 hour I'd experienced in a long time. The weather wasn't even that bad! I just came from a blizzard (by Americans terms) in Siberia and the plane was on time and no problems. In Chicago, it was just a slight snow and the whole terminal was backed up, canceled flights, late flights, etc... I couldn't believe it. After 45 minutes of waiting with no good news, I was pretty upset. I had called Jennifer and told her that my flight was ontime and that I'd see her in Columbus in a little over an hour... of course, this was a little over an hour ago. By the time we actually took off, I should have already been reunited with my family in Columbus.

When we landed I basically ran to the security check point to see them! When I saw Lizzie she lit up like a light bulb and they all came running to me. I put my things down and squeezed them all like crazy. Mommy got some extra strengthy hugs of course. Daizi just stared at me for the longest time, she didn't know what to think. I was away for almost a month and then now all the sudden I'm back..? She wasn't too sure what was going on. It took a while, then she came around. Lizzie and Jazzy and Mommy were very excited. They couldn't wait to get home so that they could all see what I got them. This is what I missed; all the little things. :)

We all went to Red Robin and I had a good 'ol American greeseburger. :) It was awesome, though my stomach is a little confused by all this. Today we all slept in and Mommy treated us all to an egg breakfast. I spent most of today catching up on my rather large honey-do list. I got the truck running, got a load of hay, fixed some light bulbs, shoveled the walk, etc... Lucky for me, Lizzie had school canceled today, so I got to hang out with her and Jazzy all day. We all played in the snow and I taught them how to make a snow wall to hide behind for snow ball fights (city boy stuff). Basically, my life is back to normal and I'm very happy for that.

Novosibirsk - Day 19

Today was an extremely great and glorious day. Ok, so I ran out of good openers for my posts and this is all I got tonight...

So, I woke @ 9am to a call from Konstantin. He asked me to meet him at the Chocolat in 10 minutes. I said... "It'll be amazing, but I'll try". Sure enough, I was out of bed and out the door in 5 minutes. It was about an 8 minute walk to the Chocolat (in the Siberian cold, mind you), so I didn't keep him waiting too long. Maxim met us there shortly thereafter, and we had a quick breakfast before heading to the баня (pronounced "bahn-ya"). For those that don't know what a banya is, it's a Russian sauna. It's different from an American sauna in that it uses wet heat (aka: steam) rather than dry heat. Anyway, when we got to the banya, we met up with Alex M. and Alex S... We were ready to sweat! :)

Over the last 2 weeks, I've heard many people talk about the banya, and it was great to finally see what it was. We basically had a 3 room hut that was laid out like an "old school" Russian banya made from logs. We had a blast, they told me Russian jokes, and I taught them all the "paradiddle", the "double paradiddle" and the "triple triple paradiddle" using a fork, a spoon, the table and some bottles. :) The first couple of times that I went into the banya, I got a little light headed, but otherwise I was fine. The more I got in and out of it, the more accustomed I became to it. We were all sweating like some banchies and it was great! :) The rule is that you should not shower or drink anything cold after going to the banya. It's good for the body to keep your pores opened up for the rest of the day. I must admit that I felt very good (and clean) long after we left the banya; highly recommended! I'm going to talk to Jennifer when I get home about building one outside... according to these guys, it's very easy to build. :)

From the banya, Maxim helped me buy some [secret gifts] at a local market and then dropped me off at my flat. When I got inside, I immediately called Anna & Sasha so that we could all hang out today. They had invited me to lunch and ice skating. Sasha came and picked me up at 1:30 and we headed back to their flat. As soon as we got up to their floor I could smell Anna's cooking. It smelled delicious!! Sure enough, it was! :) She made beef and potato soup and two sets of these potato cakes: one set had sausage in them, and the other set had apple in them. They were way tasty!

After lunch, they showed me pictures from their wedding and it was nice to see all of their family. Sasha looked like a total stud and Anna was very beautiful. Anna then showed me all of the medals from her father's military acheivements and I must say that he is nothing less than a true Russian hero. He had so many medals and what an honor it was to hold them while they explained to me what each one was. He had entered the military at age 17 and fought in World War II. He died 10 years ago, but he left a legacy. Thank you for sharing his story with me Anna. Hold onto those medals. :)

I was also able to meet their son, Maxim. He is 10 years old and is a very nice boy. :) He is learning to speak English and I must say he is very good. It is safe to say that he is better at English than I am at Russian. I introduced myself and he told me all of his important information in English to me: "Hi, my name is Maxim", "I am 10 years old", "I live in Novosibirsk, Russia", etc..). Very good!! He knew all about "Laizy, Jaizy, and Daizy" before I could even tell him about them. So it was clear that Anna and Sasha had shared my story with him, and I thought that was very cool!! He is a very funny kid and I think that Anna has her hands full with not only him, but also Sasha. I told her it is as if she is raising two boys. :) She agreed!

From their house, we drove around and did some sight seeing at the Botanical Gardens (this is where Scott and I ran my first week here). Also, I was finally able to see Obb Sea. They call it Ob Sea, but it's really a huge reservoir that is the largest man made lake in Russia called Novosibirsk Reservoir. Right now, it is completely frozen with 1 meter of ice... the whole thing! And it's huge! We were able to see many people ice fishing out on the lake from their car. Sasha stated that it is very cold to be down on the lake because there are high winds that pick up and (of course) it's very cold. I totally believed him and enjoyed seeing it from the warmth of my popo-grieshka. Oh, I can't forget to mention that Sasha talks to Hummers. :)

After doing some site seeing in their car, we headed to the ice rink and I was a bit nervous about getting on two razor blades and balancing, but I did surprisingly well. We were there for almost 2 hours and I didn't fall ONCE!? I looked like a newborn calf the whole time, but I didn't fall! Maxim was blowing me a way, he was skating very good frontwards, backwards, upside-down, etc... Anna helped me around the rink the first couple of loops, then I decided to try it myself and I was off and skating for the rest of the night. I commend my friends, Chapel and Phil for their months of training with Ice Hockey; I see now how difficult it really is. :)

To all those that got a kick out of my ski post, which was (by far) the most popular post from my journey to Novosibirsk... Eat your hearts out:

From the skating rink, they brought me back to their place for DINNER!?!? I couldn't believe it! I only ate mandarin oranges and drank water yesterday and today I'm eating like a king. Anna had fried potatoes and turkey prepared for dinner. I had no problem cleaning up my plate and was extremely satisfied... and what is dinner without ice cream!!?? Like I said, I ate like a king today. I turned and complimented Sasha with, "Your wife is a very good cook.", and (of course) I told Anna the same thing, over and over I think. Then, after dinner and desert, they took me shopping at the trade center so that I could get some last minute souvenirs for my family. When we finished, I said my good byes to them and we went our separate ways. It was so nice of them to let me spend the day with their family and welcome me into their home. It's clear that I have made some lifelong friends today.


To Konstantin, Maxim, Alex M., Alex S., Anna A., Sasha, and Lil' Maxim: Thank you for a great day!! :)

Novosibirsk - Day 17

Today rocked! Literally.

I woke up at 7:30 and got ready to head out the door for the Chocolat. This place is gonna miss me! All of the waitresses know me by my face now and actually bring me a "menu engleski" as soon as I walk in the door. Honestly I don't know why really, because I pretty much order the same thing every time. I either order the ham & cheese omelet or the fried eggs. Of course, I always get the "fruncheski press", which is basically a small pitcher of water with coffee beans in it. The top has a stem on it that you "press" down on after so long... Ok, this isn't making any sense, I'm sure... Basically, they grind up coffee beans and put it in this small pitcher of water and the beans float on top of the water making it browner and browner by the minute (aka: making the coffee). The stem on the top actually has a filter on the bottom of it, and after 4 minutes, you slowly push down on this stem which (of course) pushes the ground up coffee beans to the bottom. At this point, you have a small pitcher of coffee sitting above the filter. I'll try to take a picture of it on Monday before I leave and post it to my blog. It's only fair since it's really all I've been drinking over here (along with water, beer, and chai (aka: tea)).

Scott and I decided to call Semyon to join us and he said to go ahead and order him the usual (fried eggs and a latte). I actually struggled with this order because it's not actually on the menu, but I order it all the time. Typically the waitresses know enough English to understand "fried eggs", but this waitress didn't speak any English, and I had to bust out the handy-dandy dictionary to assist us all through this process. We nailed it after looking up 3 words (ham, eggs, beans). :) When Semyon got there, we had a blast. We taught him a few English phrases that he had never heard before. We made sure to tell him that when he uses this phrase, he can NOT forget the word "with". :)

While we were sitting in the cafe finishing our coffee, Ivan showed up with his son and I was able to snap a photo of them together. It's unfortunate that I don't have a picture of him with his wife, but I'm very happy that I was able to get a picture of him with his son. Sorry Ivan, I forgot his name already! :( Please comment below if you read this. :)

So, after breakfast Scott and I took the mashrutka (a minivan with seats) to work and I stayed busy pretty much all day. Rather than giving Scott his daily "tennis lesson" on the Nintendo Wii, I was given a "table tennis lesson" by Sergey P... Man, this guy is good! It started out as a friendly game of table tennis (aka: ping pong) between Alex M. and I. It got serious when Sergey P. showed up with his ping pong paddle. I was able to play a few games with Lena, Semyon, and Alex M., before getting schooled by Sergey P. He litterally put the smack down on me. I wish I had video of this guys ping pong skills. He's damn good! I was able to steal a few points here and there, but it was mostly luck. :)

Oh, don't let me forget to wish Alex S. a happy birthday. He turned 24 today! We had a party for him in the break room with cake. I was very surprised to learn that nobody sang for him!? I actually sang the song by myself in front of everybody as I was teaching it to Oleg and I'm sure they got a kick out of it. "They" being most of the DataWorks crew. :) The best part about the party is that we all at cake on "mexican paper plates", which was literally plates made of paper. In other words, they were pieces of paper folded in half with a piece of cake laid on them. :) Alex, I bet you didn't think I was going to use this picture, did you!? Happy Birthday man! :)

So the rest of the day @ work was busy / productive / fun, then I got a ride home from Konstantin. This is where I pause and explain how good of a friend Konstantin has become. Before I came over here, I explained to him over Skype that I wanted to run in a race so that I could get a "Russian bib number". A bib number (for those that don't know) is basically just a flemzy piece of paper that runners get when they run a race. Over the last year, I've been collecting them from the various races I've ran and I have a small bundle of them in my basement that really serve no purpose. Anyway, when I told this to Konstantin over Skype many weeks ago, he contacted his mom, and asked her to make me one. Well, today he gave it to me and I am so impressed by it. It is very... what's the word... PERFECT! I could not have asked for a better bib number, or a better (new) friend. Thanks again Konstantin!! You are what us Americans call "Good People!" Please don't forget to send me your mothers address in an email, so that I can send her a postcard... yes, that's right, I said a "POSTCARD!" :)

After Konstantin dropped me off, it was time for me to turn right back around and leave again. A few days ago I had asked the guys at work where I could find some live music before I left Akademgorodok in a few days. I was looking to see any live music really. Being a musician it's just fun to go see other musicians entertaining, and I wanted to see the live Russian music scene. As soon as I asked them, they immediately pointed me to Julia. I guess she's well trained in all the details of such places. Julia got on the case immediately and booked a table at a the Нии Куда (pronounced "nee kooda" which means nowhere). This place is actuall one floor below the "Prime Time" sports bar that the support crew took me to on Day 14. It ended up being Julia , "The Anna's" (Anna A. (aka: Ushanka Anna) and Anna M.), mysef, and Anna A.'s husband, Sasha. I was very happy that Sasha came along for the ride too. Not only is he fun to hang out with, but he helped me not be the only guy! :)

Tonight was "Irish Band Night"! I was elated!! I love Irish music. My sister turned me on to a few Irish bands over the years; namely Gaelic Storm and The Elders. Every year, the whole family goes to Dayton for their annual Celtic Fest. If you've never been to this, you really should go! We take the girls every year and will be taking them again this year... Check out one of the movies that I uploaded to YouTube from last years event: Dayton Celtic Festival 2007

Trust me, Irish music, Irish beer, and an Irish atmosphere make for a good time! Needless-to-say, I was excited for this night to get started. :)

When we got there, I ordered my "farst pint ah Guinness" as we got settled in right beside the band. Our table was in the back right corner of the club, which was literally... "right beside the band". The name of the band tonight was Fire Water Folks and when they came out, they immediately began with their Celtic music and I formed "perma-grin" (no, it wasn't the Guinness at this point). This band was awesome! They were a bunch of Russians, singing Irish songs, in English. I didn't care how weird the whole scenario was, I loved it! They are made up of an accordion player, a bass guitarist, a singer / guitarist, and the drummer. Of course, the drummer was awesome (you had to expect such a statement from another drummer). He had total control of his kit and really drove the band the entire time. The crowd was totally into it and I (personally) was having a great time!! There were even some Celtic dancers that got up and danced the famous "I have no arms, just crazy legs" Irish dance moves.

Half way through the show, some of Julia's friends joined us (another Julia and Nina); they were very nice. I learned lots of Russian tonight and shared lots of English in return. After tonight, Sasha is officially my new "ruskie bradt" (aka: Russian brother). I told him that when he and Anna come to the states, they have to come visit me on my farm and meet my family. He has cousins that live in Pennsylvania, so this is very possible, I hope. We all took turns yelling back and forth at each other over the music and had a great time.

One of the highlights of the night (then I'll wrap up my post, I promise :)) was getting to actually meet the band. Anybody that knows me, knows that I just don't care... Anna wanted to get a picture of the band behind the stage (aka: behind us), so I went with her and we got to meet them. They all spoke pretty good English and really appreciated our enthusiasm (aka: drunkenness). I commended the drummer on his skills and told them all that I really enjoyed their music. I was also happy to know that they had heard of Gaelic Storm. They asked me how their English accent because they really wanted to make it sound "authentic", to which I (of course) said it was awesome... even though... whatever. Anna's husband took some pictures for us with the entire band (including the sound guy) and I walked away with a night too remember.

Well, sorry for the short post!! What else is there to say? Thanks Julia, Anna A., Anna M., Sasha, other Julia, and Nina!! I had a great night!! :)


Russian Words

• Egg = яйцо (pronounced "ij-tso")
• Ham - Окорок (pronounced "o-korok")
• Beans -бобы (pronounced "bop")
• Drum - барабан (pronounced "ba-ra-bahn")
• Shooah - Sure (It's actually English, but all Russians say it with the elongated "oo", including Julia) :)

I also found out that "Luc" actually sounds just like the Russian word for "man hole"... yes, the steal plates in the middle of the road.

And... lastly, here's my icestache (it looks like snot, but it'sss not):

Novosibirsk - Day 15

Wow. I just had an amazing night! Before I get into the details of it, let me first tell you about my day. I woke up rather early considering my condition of last nights (hiccup) events. :) My Tungsten T|X gave me the B'DEEEEE B'DEEEEE around 7:55 and I woke up rather willingly believe it or not. I scurried around, finished yesterdays journal entry and got out the door by 8:50 to meet Ivan (aka: Vanya) at where else?... The Gorodok.

Oh yeah, I no longer call this place "The Gorodok", because a few days ago I learned that the name of the cafe is actually "Chocolat" (yes, it's French) and it is a building in which it is located is called Gorodok. For all the locals in Newark, this is like BW3's at SouthGate in Heath. The place is BW3's, but the location is SouthGate. To further complicate you, the name "Gorodok" is actually the short name of the town that I'm staying in. The full name is Akademgorodok (or Академгородо́к for all the advanced readers out there) and it is a part of Novosibirsk. I guess it is very much like how Upper Arlington is a part of Columbus, Ohio. Anyway, quick lesson about Akademgorodok and how it relates to omelets. :P

The morning was rather uneventful at work. I was able to participate in a daily scrum meeting and must say that I wish I would have attended more while I was here. I found them to be very useful (as they are intended to be of course). We all basically stood up from our chairs stood in a circle (under the JetBrains bulb) and each talked about what they did yesterday, problems they had, and then discussed what they had planned to do today. Todays daily scrum meeting was held in English (thanks guys). However, I'm sure that it gets much more involved on days that I'm not participating. Regardless, it was nice to see how it all goes down over here.

At lunch I went to a very nice restaurant / bar called "Republica" with Maxim, Julia, and Semyon. It was a very "Americanized" restaurant, so of course I felt very comfortable and enjoyed listening to the 80's & 90's hit rock songs. I think this is the place that we are going for "live band" night on Friday, but I'm not sure... more on that in Friday's post. Anyway it was maybe 2 blocks from the office and I was surprised that I hadn't been there until now, for it was very tasty and had a great atmosphere. We all walked back to the office miserably full. :)


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So nothing else really happened too exciting at the office except for Scott's daily "tennis lesson". Yeah that's right... :) OH YEAH, update on the post cards... they got sent today. Thanks, Oksana and Scott! Apparently if you know the right people, things get done easier around here. Unfortunately I put my faith in a bunch of guys (like myself) and we, of course, don't know much about anything. Oksana apparently knew somebody at the post office that was trained in "Postcardese" and was able to send them fairly inexpensively. As much as I'm sure Scott might want to take credit for this, I thank you Oksana for sending these. :) My family and friends thank you too... Ok, you too Scott! Whatever... 1,800 p.??

After Scott's tennis lesson, I made the cold walk home and got ready for my evening with the Novikov family. They were taking me to an Armanien restaurant called Cafe Anaet (aka: Кафе Анаит) and this is where my opening statement gets fully qualified: I had an amazing night tonight! This is the place where Konstantin and Irrena had their wedding party, almost two months ago. When we walked into the place, it looked like an abandoned grocery store or something, but then we walked through another door on the inside and was presented with a very small eating area with low lighting. There were only about 7 tables total, but only 3 of them had people sitting at them. At the front of the small room, there was this guy playing a Duduk in front of the few guests that were eating. I had never seen this instrument before, nor had I ever heard any Armenian music before. Please take a minute to watch this and really listen to the beauty of this instrument:

Irrena said it best when she said that he was playing with his heart; he really was! Of course, for all of those that are giggling about his facial expressions, you really could not believe how peaceful and beautiful his music was tonight. Honestly, I felt that the facial expressions and his swaying movements added to the music very well; I was actually hypnotized a couple of times. At one point, when he was walking back to his table (remember there were only 7), I stood up and shook his hand... Unfortunately, the only thing I could think to say was "SPASIBO!" which was (at that time) Russian for "That was amazing!" Konstantin is actually on the case (right now) to find me more of this music. :)

I totally wish I could have brought Jennifer with me to this restaurant tonight! As I was explaining to Konstantin and Irrena (sorry if I'm butchering the spelling of your name Irrena), this is the type of place that Jennifer and I would love find in Ohio and become regulars. It was the best restaurant that I think I have ever been to. I confessed this to them at the restaurant many times, and then confessed it to Jennifer when I got home. The atmosphere, the food, the music, the company, the service, the "hidden" location, everything... It may be worth the trip back to Novosibirsk if only to visit this restaurant and see this guy playing the Duduk again.

Ok, so maybe I should get into what I ate too? After all it was a restaurant... We began with cheese bread (shaped and cut like a pizza) and little roast beef rolls that were filled with some yummy goodness. I ordered barbecue lamb for my dinner, which was absolutely delicious. I got to show Irrena my "Yummy Face" which is actually a face of total disgust with a hint of disbelief thrown in. You almost have to see it. Basically, I would take a bite, make this face, and Irrena would say "What? You don't like it?". :)

Our waitress treated us like royalty and actually brought me some special dipping sauce for my lamb. Apparently we were the "special guests" because I was clearly a foreigner (camera, dictionary, english... the whole package) and after our meals, she treated us with free coffee on the house. Irrena and Kostya could not have treated me to a better evening; this is a night I'll never forget. Honestly! Thank you Novikov's!!


It goes without saying that if you live in Novosibirsk, and have never been to this place, go. If you plan to travel to Novosibirsk (BTW: I can say that now that I'm linked from NovosibirskGuide.com... jealousssss), visit this restaurant and tell them that the Novikov's and the foreigner sent you... they'll know who your talking about I'm sure. :) Just look! --->

Again, trust me... they'll know who your talking about. :)